Oh the irony. In the reserves for a given work weekend there is a budget to fund meals for soldiers. If a given unit has a meal preparation section there is al

Oh the irony. In the reserves for a given work weekend there is a budget to fund meals for soldiers. If a given unit has a meal preparation section there is also a budget to fund meal preparation, but if that given section cannot prepare meals they will just issue MREs for lunch. The typical soldier would rather just go buy fast food. Those soldiers are required to pick up a MRE whether they want it or not to force them to sign for a meal which qualifies the meal budget. Unused money in the budget is not replenished in the next fiscal cycle so it must be spent to qualify it’s need. Then also for accountability and time limits many soldiers are not allowed to leave, depending upon unit leadership, to buy lunch if they have an MRE. Officers, on the other hand, are required to buy lunch, because they make too much money. As a result they cannot sign for said MRE because they are not accounted for in the budget. This means officers must leave the unit to find lunch elsewhere. The people with the most time flexibility who don’t MREs are forced to consume them. The people who are most busy and would prefer to eat them, so as to not waste the time driving around, are not allowed to have them.